After his own swearing in ceremony this morning, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau named his 30-member cabinet, which he says “looks like Canada.”

Staying true to his word, half of Trudeau’s cabinet were women – including the new Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, Carolyn Bennett.

“She’s had that file for years for our party,” Yukon MP Larry Bagnell said in an interview this morning from Ottawa.

Bennett, first elected in 1997, was most recently the party’s critic for aboriginal affairs and northern development. She is currently the MP for the St. Paul’s riding, located in Toronto.

She succeeds former Conservative minister Bernard Valcourt in the portfolio.

Bagnell thinks the choice was a good one – Bennett herself penned a letter to Yukon First Nations assuring them that an elected Liberal government would withdraw the contentious clauses on Bill S-6 that have resulted in impending court cases.

“I have a good working relationship with her because of that,” Bagnell said.

“That’s very helpful for us.”

Bennett is a family physician and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Toronto.

Under Paul Martin’s leadership, she was appointed Minister of State for Public Health, a position which assists the minister of health.

There will be pressure for her to get going on the promised national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women – which Trudeau promised would be initiated within his first 100 days in office.

“She’s definitely supportive of that,” Bagnell said, adding that a rush job on the inquiry wouldn’t do anyone any favours.

“You have to be careful of its design to make sure that it’s an effective inquiry.”

Representing the North is Nunavut MP Hunter Tootoo, named Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard.

He will be Canada’s second Inuk to be appointed as a federal minister, the first being Conservative MP Leona Aglukkaq.

Tootoo defeated Aglukkaq in the federal election last month.

“It’s great to have a long-experienced northerner in the cabinet,” Bagnell said.

“We’re almost half of Canada ... with only three MPs North of 60, you don’t get a lot of influence.”

“It’s good to have that voice in cabinet.”

Bagnell went on to note that Tootoo will be able to make sure that certain situations pertaining to the North are not forgotten, such as impacts of climate change.

“Any requirements for adaptation can be brought to cabinet by Mr. Tootoo.”

Aside from specific names, Bagnell was also excited about several “exciting” name changes of the departments.

The minister of environment, for example, was changed to now be the minister of environment and climate change.

The minister of small business added tourism to the title.

“It’s been a long time since tourism has been recognized,” Bagnell said, pleased with the alteration.

Peter Turner, the president of the Yukon Chamber of Commerce, said that overall, the cabinet appointments were “quite encouraging.”

He praised the gender parity and noted many of the cabinet ministers bring significant experience to their portfolios, such as former Liberal leader Stephane Dion, now Foreign Affairs minister.

Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould was a regional chief with the Assembly of First Nations. She has done other significant work in a number of roles dealing with First Nations, Turner pointed out.

Bagnell also mentioned Wilson-Raybould as being well-known in the aboriginal community.

“She’ll be very supportive of the bill I’ve been trying to get through on FASD,” Bagnell said.

The mix of experience in the new cabinet was a pleasant surprise, Bagnell added.

At the beginning of the election campaign, when the Liberal Party was third place in the polls, no one took account of who the people were running as Liberal MPs, Bagnell said.

“At the beginning, it didn’t seem like it mattered. (Now) all of a sudden, you’re seeing incredible depth and backgrounds. It’s a very diverse cabinet.”

Bagnell’s excitement does not appear to be accompanied by any disappointment – he points out that he has never lobbied for a cabinet position.

“It’s a full-time job being an MP.”

“There’s more than enough to do in Ottawa.”

In fact, the Yukon MP has already gotten his hands full with a number of constituency issues.

Whitehorse has been fundraising and lobbying to bring a family of Syrian refugees to the territory.

“It’s already organized, but there’s been no approval yet,” Bagnell said.

He also noted that he has already made Bennett aware of the Peel watershed appeal decision that the Yukon Court of Appeal released today.

In addition to these issues, Bagnell plans on approaching the minister of national revenue about getting the Canada Revenue Agency office reopened in Whitehorse – just one of the promises made during the election campaign.

“I look forward to working with Carolyn Bennett, our new Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, and the new federal cabinet to deliver on our priorities to grow opportunity in Yukon. I also look forward to working with our new MP, Larry Bagnell,” Premier Darrell Pasloski said.

Ryan Leef, the single-term Conservative MP who Bagnell defeated on Oct. 19, could not be reached this morning to assess the new cabinet. Melissa Atkinson, the former NDP candididate, declined to comment.

Ruth Massie, the grand chief of the Council of Yukon First Nations, was unavailable for comment.

– With a file from Stephanie Waddell. See related coverage in today’s Nation section.